Moving on
by stefanslvtr
Summary: Damon and Elena are now officially dating and Caroline is helping Stefan move on, which might lead their relationship to a whole new direction.
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe you are still not dressed!"

Three weeks had gone by since Elena and Damon shared their relationship status with the whole town. Therefore, three weeks had gone by since Stefan last left his room. Caroline understood, of course, she knew better than most how much a broken heart could hurt, but if there was something she could do to help Stefan, she would. When she had just turned into a vampire and was completely lost and confused, Stefan was there for her, it was time she paid him back.

"I've told you I'm not going anywhere." He said and disappeared under his sheets.

"And I've told you I'm not leaving without you"

"Well, then I guess you are staying."

She sat on the foot of his bed and for the first time really looked at him. He wasn't just sad, he was devastated, he carried a morbid gaze in his eyes. Much like a deep ocean of sadness that could easily burst out at any minute. Without thinking twice she throw her body against his and hugged him like she was about to lose him forever.

"I'm so sorry Stefan" She whispered so low she'd think he hadn't heard her, if he hadn't pulled her closer right at the same time. Her soft, blonde hair was all over his face and he could smell her scent now better than ever, it smelled like spring, like spring and big dreams.

A few minutes later they had moved to the living room, Stefan was at the kitchen getting them some snacks and she was skipping channels, looking for something they could watch on the TV. The Kardashians was on, and that was her obvious choice.

"No way we are watching that." Stefan said while handing her a bowl of popcorn.

"Pretty please? For me? I promise you are gonna like it!"

"I highly doubt that."

"Give it five minutes, five minutes and you'll see I'm right"

"I guess I can dedicate five minutes of my busy life to your silly reality show"

"It's not silly!" She said in a high pitched voice while throwing some popcorn on him.

"Look out for food waste or I'm calling the sheriff!"

"Please call her, maybe that way I can get a bit of her attention." The sadness behind her sarcastic tone was obvious and Stefan felt powerless, he simply couldn't come up with the right words to say.

"You were right. This isn't that bad." He said placing his hand on top of hers.

He meant the TV show, but he could have just as easily be talking about hanging out with her, instead of sitting in his room obsessing over a failed relationship. Maybe he did mean that. And right there, for the first time in days, he felt alive.

"Let's go out to hunt." He said and opened a shy, but real smile.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all I'd like to thank you all for you great reviews. I also need to apologize for the time delay, I'll try to work faster next time, and for any English mistakes this text will most likely contain. Thank you once again (:

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Some days had gone by since the Kardashians accident, and Caroline had come over to Stefan's in each one of them. He felt better, somehow waking up and knowing that at any moment a bubbly and smiley Caroline would be walking through his door made him put all of the Elena crap behind.

It was Friday, and Caroline had made him promise they would go out, nothing very extreme, just a fun, relaxing night at the grill, but Stefan wasn't sure that was a great idea. I mean, yes he was in a better mood, he could wake up and change out of his pajamas without needing someone to force him, but he kept thinking, what if we ran into "them"? Since he heard the news of their new established relationship, Stefan could only refer to Damon and Elena as "them", it was just easier. It didn't remind him of all he once had and how much his brother betrayed him. It didn't remind him of the times he could hold Elena in his arms and call her his, or when he had a brother he could count on. It was easier, but it was in no way easy.

He heard the door opening, Caroline had her own key. Stefan never offered, but once she saw an unused one lying on his kitchen countertop and decided it should belong to her. Stefan never mentioned the key was once Elena's. He could hear her walking through his house, looking for him in every room before approaching the office. The door was locked, and that was a key she didn't have. Caroline knocked.

"Are you in there?" She was a bit worried. Sure, she knew Stefan wasn't exactly hyped to go to the grill, but what if something else had happened? Why was he locking himself away from her, they were friends after all. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer, he didn't want to worry her but he also wasn't in the mood for talking. He just wanted to stay there, protected from all the things that could hurt him, isolated, but safe.

Rationally, she knew he was safe, she could hear his heartbeats and his breathing, but still she couldn't just leave. She knew something was wrong and there was no way she would be able to enjoy her Friday night until she figured out what was it. So she knocked the door down, vampire Barbie style. And there he was, focused, serious Stefan, writing on his journal. He heard her subtle entrance, but still didn't move. She crossed the room and stood right in front of him, he didn't look up. She stayed there for a while, staring at his hands, and how they were gentle, but still very masculine. She noticed his jaw line too, strong, but somehow very sad. His hair looked beautiful, and for a second she wanted to touch it, but of course she didn't. The whole room was incredibly organized, just like its owner.

"Do you want me to leave?" She said, trying to understand that maybe he needed some space; she had been all over him for the past few days after all, maybe it was starting to get a little tiring. He stopped writing. Silence filled up the room. He looked up right into her dreamy eyes and said:

"Why in hell would I want that?"


	3. Chapter 3

Once again thanks for the reviews, and as for the comments made on the size of the chapters, I promise I'll try to make them bigger!

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Once Caroline was able to force her way into Stefan's office, it was easy to convince him to leave. Somehow he just couldn't say no to those sweet eyes of hers. They were only a few steps away from the grill when he noticed how oddly empty the surroundings of the restaurant were. They were completely alone.

"Where is everybody?"

"Oh, well, I thought you might notice that. I kind of compelled the manager to close the Grill for us tonight. I didn't want us to run into anyone that could make this evening unpleasant."

"I see." Stefan was surprised, but more than anything he was relieved. The certainty of not running into Damon and Elena was all he could hope for now. "Good call."

"I know, I'm the best and all" She said laughing and running into their shelter for the night.

"Well, since you were gentle enough to force me out of the house, I guess I should make you a drink as a thank you."

"A sex on the beach please"

"On our first date? What kind of man do you think I am?" They both laughed. And that was when Caroline first noticed how incredibly beautiful Stefan looked when he laughed. She also realized how great it felt to be the person that made it happen, and how she wanted to do that for the rest of her life.

"It's great to see you laugh."

"Yeah, it sure feels great." And it did. For the last couple of weeks all he wanted was to disappear forever, to extinguish every last memory of his life with Elena, but now things seemed to be improving. He could actually consider giving his brother a second chance to redeem himself, and the thought of running into Elena on the street didn't feel so terrifying.

"How about that drink? Customer waiting here!"

And they drank. Oh, how they drank. Stefan was a great bartender, years and years of practice and all that, but Caroline wasn't so bad herself. They made each other probably the entire Wikipedia drinks section and were completely and utterly hammed. Drunk enough to lose all sorts of tact. Drunk enough to ask the hardest questions.

"Are you still in love with her?"

The question hit Stefan like a bullet, not only because he had been dodging the Elena thoughts for so long, but also because he didn't really know the answer. Actually he hadn't been sure about his love for Elena even when they were still together; he simply never wanted to go there. Of course he had loved her, he loved her for so long, but it was just too hard and when something is right it shouldn't be that way. In some level he always knew that it was hard, because it wasn't meant to be, he just never wanted to admit it to himself. They both had put so much work into that relationship to simply give up, and they never did, until the obvious matter emerged and their strong, solid love melt. That was it, Stefan finally realized he was over Elena. He was upset, yes, he felt betrayed, of course, but he wasn't heartbroken anymore. He was free. And all it took for him to see it were a few weeks of depression and the company of a sassy blonde drunk.

"No. I'm not."


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry, I know I promised to work on longer chapters but it's just not very easy for me. I'll try harder next time!

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"_Good morning sleepy head"_ Caroline said while handing Stefan a cup of hot chocolate.

The room was clear, way too clear; Caroline had probably opened up the curtains Stefan thought. Yet she hadn't.

"_Why is it so clear in here?"_ He asked with both of his eyes still half closed, half opened.

"_It isn't, at least not more than usual. You are just hung-over."_ She said, but Stefan still looked confused. _"You don't remember? Yesterday, we went to the grill? You made me a sex on the beach? And then a few dozens more? "_

And then Stefan remembered. I mean, he remembered going to the grill, forced by Caroline. And then drinking way too much. He remembered talking about Elena, but he couldn't make out why Caroline ended up at his house. Wearing his shirt.

"_Oh, yeah, sure I remember" _He didn't sound much confident though.

"_You don't look like you do, what's wrong?"_

He didn't want to say it, I mean, if anything had happened between them then he should remember, no matter how drunk he was. Except that he didn't. And even though he knew that was incredibly rude he had to ask.

"_Why are you wearing my shirt?" _

"_This? You gave it to me yesterday, after I puked on my dress."_ She laughed. _"Yeah, it wasn't very pretty"_

And then he started to remember. They had just left the grill, both way too drunk to drive; Stefan didn't want Caroline to walk home alone at night so he asked her if she wouldn't rather crash at his place. She said yes.

"Oh, that's why then" He said laughing, he was relieved, but not because he had not slept with her, but because it wouldn't be right. He liked Caroline way too much to simply have sex with her one night when he was too drunk to even know his last name and then forget all about it.

"_Why? What did you think had happened?"_ Caroline was not naive, maybe it was just too early and she was still a bit slow. But then she finally got it. _"Oh my God! You thought we had slept together? No way!" _

"Wow, now I'm offended. Would it be such terrible thing to sleep with me? Am I not drunk sex material?" He said while faking to be insulted.

She started giggling and accidently dropped hot chocolate over Stefan's mattress.

"Oops" She said with a guilty smile.

"Consider yourself dead Caroline"

And he started running towards her with one of his pillows, she tried running away but he was already too close. They both fell on the ground. He was on top, his hands gently placed over her ribs, their noses were almost touching and she could feel the hot air coming out of his mouth, right into hers.

"_You are not"_ She said, and with every word their lips were brought closer together. "_Drunk sex material. You are boyfriend material Stefan."_

Their eyes met. Their bodies were now completely melted together. His hands started going up; they touched her neck, her chin, her cheekbones and were gently placed beneath her head as his lips followed the same path as his hands, but with one new final destination: her lips.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm so sorry for the time delay, and for the size of this "chapter" if you can even call it so. But I've been super busy with school and I've done my best. Besides I was too embarrassed to extend this sex thing any longer so. Thank you all so much for your lovely replies!

* * *

They kissed, one long, intense, tender kiss. Their lips were no longer together but Stefan was still on top of her, his hands going through her hair, his eyes avoiding hers. They stood there for a while, until the silence was unbearable. If they could though, they both would have stayed like that forever.

"_What are we doing_" Caroline asked

"_I-I don't kno_w" Stefan replied, but still didn't move. He finally had the guts to look into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes. "_But it feels right._"

And it did. As Caroline felt Stefan's weight on top of her she knew that couldn't be wrong. It felt familiar, it felt safe, it felt good. And all of the sudden she didn't want to say anything else anymore. She didn't want to spoil that moment. She didn't want it to end.

"_Yes_" She said and before he could even reply she kissed him like she had never kissed anyone before. Not Tyler, not Matt, no one. With one fast movement she was now on top of him, his hands before placed on her ribs where now going up, touching every inch of her skin, slowly removing her top and rubbing her bare chest. Following his lead Caroline's hands went down his shirt, feeling his muscles, tearing down the fabric. There was still too much clothes on their way.

Caroline's hands were now going south, feeling him hard under his jeans. Stefan's jeans never bothered her so much. She could see his face transforming as she opened his pants and gently stroked him. That was it, he couldn't bear it anymore. Stefan got up and threw her on his bed. Her head hit the headboard but she just didn't care. With only one movement he torn her skirt and underwear and she was now completely naked. Gorgeous. He climbed on top of her and slowly got himself inside of her.

They moved together perfectly, you can't imagine that kind of symmetry. It was like they were born to do that. They were so close; it felt like their bodies had melted down together, creating one perfect combination of pleasure and tenderness.

Once they were done, they just lay together for hours, small talking, cuddling, making up excuses not to leave that moment.


	6. Chapter 6

With the sun coming through the unprotected windows Stefan woke up. His eyes were still closed while he remembered every single detail of the night before. He could feel Caroline's scents taking over the room; he could hear her voice moan his name over and over again. He could feel her hands holding his, their feet touching, her hair against his stomach. Everything was perfect, until he opened his eyes.

Her side of the bed was intact, perfectly tidy, her perfume was now gone and the memories of that one perfect night started to fade away. If it wasn't for the single note she had left over his dresser, there would be no proof that anything had even happened.

Only in his boxers, Stefan slowly got up. He was curious, sure, but most of all he was scared. As hard as he tried he could never read Caroline and everything she did was always unexpected. He used to consider that a quality, not anymore. As he approached the note his mind articulated every possible scenario, from her running away with Tyler to Elena showing up and kicking her out of the house. There it was, right in front of him, there was no more escaping. Sealed with a kiss and exhaling her perfume, there it was.

Now sitting at the feet of his bed Stefan opened it. He read, he laughed. A laughter of happiness, relief, but mostly pure and simple love. The note fell from his hands into the floor and he rushed down stairs, still half naked. And there she was, wearing nothing but his t-shirt and her underwear, lying on his sofa watching TV. And that's where she had been all along.

_You scared me you know?_ - He said, lying next to her.

_What do you mean?_

_Nevermind, tell me, who is Kim dating today?_

As clueless as Stefan were when it came to Caroline's thoughts, she still could tell every single one of his. Feeling his insecurity she said, looking right into his eyes

No need to worry, I'll never leave you. _ – And he smiled, kissed her forehead and they both fell asleep watching Kim and Kourtney Take Miami._

* * *

Just out of curiosity, here is Caroline's note:

_"Down stairs watching the Kardashians marathon. Miss you already._

_Love, Caroline."_


End file.
